Ruddy: Get off Joe's back

Norwich keeper John Ruddy is widely quoted in this morning’s Press coverage and blames the media spotlight for putting unfair pressure on Joe Hart.

Ruddy, one of Joe’s rivals for the England No.1 position, could just have easily have kept his counsel and allowed the relentless focus on the City keeper to continue to his advantage, but he has been less than impressed with the way journalists and pundits have targeted the Blues’ stopper.

Matt McGeehan writing in The Independent reports: "But Ruddy, whose single England appearance to date came in a friendly win over Italy, for now has no pretensions on the England goalkeeper jersey he believes Hart fully deserves.

’Joe's the England number one. Rightly so,’ Ruddy said. ‘The way he's performed over the last few years he's deserved it and he's never let England down.

‘I've been in situations before when people are questioning you. It's never nice. Without being too patronising, I felt sorry for him.

He doesn't warrant that sort of attention. He's a top-drawer goalkeeper, one of the best in the world without a shadow of a doubt

...John Ruddy...

‘It's the way the media is - you build people up so far and then chop their legs away when they get too high.

‘Unfortunately that's the way the English media goes. Until that stops we might struggle to go anywhere in competitions.’”

Well said Mr Ruddy.

Darren Plant, quoting Sky Sports on Caught Offside (it's complicated) also relays backing for Joe, this time from the man who leads the national team out on a regular basis.

He writes: "England skipper Steven Gerrard has also leapt to the defence of his team-mate as Joe continued to dominate the headlines.

“The 33-year-old told Sky Sports News: ‘I think that Joe has set such high standards that and people expect it of him all of the time, which is impossible.

‘At the moment, he is going through a bit of a tough time, but he has the ability and the character to play his way through it.

For me, when I've got Joe Hart behind me, I always feel safe. I have no doubt that Joe is a top goalkeeper and I hope that he's behind me in the next two games